What we've been eating Wednesday #2

Hey, we're on a roll with WWBEW so I thought I'd run with it.

2 recent meals:

Parmesan crusted talapia, brown rice, and green salad with candied walnuts.  Any breaded fish recipe will do!

Zucchini Ribbon Spaghetti.  Use veggie peeler (or mandoline) to get zucchini ribbons. Cook briefly in a large skillet and wa-la, "noodles" for dinner! We topped this with leftover spaghetti sauce and cooked up some sausage on the side.  Served with beer bread.

What we've been Eating Wednesday (WWBEW)

Hey, welcome to WWBEW! (Just kidding. If you got that joke as a reference to other blogs with weekly "stuff" awesome. If not, keep reading anyway.)

I wanted to post some recent meals we've had because...they are very tasty, and I want to make them all again!!!  And they are all (almost) simple, so I want to share them with you. (Trade you ideas?)

Anyhow: Here is my 4 panel chart, strategically designed to sneak extra pins on pinterest. (haha.) We have
1. Gnocchi and Broccoli Pesto

2. Pesto Salmon and Christmas Rice

3 Roasted Veggie Medley with Italian Chicken

4. Open Face Quesadillas

(recipes below)

The most complicated of recipes above is definitely the Gnocchi and Broccoli pesto. For this I used homemade gnocchi (not hard, used extra baked potatoes) and then in a skillet I cooked mushrooms, red peppers, and broccoli  I tried to cut some broccoli small and mash it up to be like a sauce.  I was trying to go "light".  I don't remember adding anything else (maybe a little actual basil pesto) but it definitely worked for us. Delish.

2. Pesto Salmon with Christmas Rice.  For this, I bake salmon at 425 for the normal time (20 minutes?). During the last 4 minutes, we slather on some pesto and sometimes turn the broiler on too. For Christmas Rice, I threw spinach ribbons (read: fancily sliced) and small-diced red peppers into the rice pot about halfway through cooking and let that heat do the rest.  Did you notice I just snuck TWO veggies into an otherwise starchy side dish?! WIN!

3.  Roasted Veggie Medley with Italian Chicken.  This one is a little time/labor intensive. An hour before I want to eat, I chop sweet potatoes up into tot-sized pieces and toss them in some olive oil and salt. Roast 3o minutes at 425-450.  At that point, pull them out and turn them over a bit. Throw in a second pan of faster-roasting veggies (I did mushrooms and peppers, sometimes carrots too), also with a spritz of oil and salt.  (I've also burn broccoli this way.)  Set the timer for another 30 minutes.  10-15 minutes before you plan to eat, turn on a skillet and quick cook some chicken bites that have been marinating in italian dressing. (you could probably bake these instead, I just happened to cook them in a skillet that time.

4. Open Face Quesadillas. This was Zach's invention.  We only had 2 tortillas, cheese, and some random stuff around for dinner...so this was it.  Cooked in the skillet, we added tomatoes and avocado and ended up slicing it like a pizza. Delicious.

Your turn...what have you been making that I can copy?

Its time for Fall! {YUM}

We had a smidge of brisk weather the other day and I quickly forgot the 105 degree temperatures of summer and immediately started to complain about the cold.  What can I say? I am weak.  Anyhow, I am excited that soups are now back in style for supper, now that it is cooling off.  Recently we had our favorite tomato soup (recipe here) and knock-off Red Lobster cheddar bisctuits (from here). YUM.

What are you cooking now that it is cooling off????

Dinner Default: Skillet Meal

Today I bring to you yet another food post. Lately when I have been preparing these meals, I've been wondering if we will eat the same way once we have kids. For example, when we do skillet meals, I try to add all the vegetables we have in the fridge into the skillet, plus frozen bell peppers and onions.  Everything else gets chopped fresh.  It doesn't take a ton of time, but just something I think about from time to time. (NO, NOT PREGNANT.)  Like, "will I have time to make this from scratch?" Anyhow.

Skillet meals are our go-to meal.  We used to buy the frozen bags and add a veggie or two to the sauce to make it more homemade. Now I really prefer to make the whole thing from scratch, but it takes up more dishes that way.

For instance here we have 1 pot for pasta.  Cooked al dente a little ahead of the rest of the meal and then rinsed in cold water to stop them from cooking more. I do NOT pour oil on them at this point because I read somewhere that doing so makes the pasta not stick to your sauce.  I also have a second pan where I previously cooked up some sausages and am now cooking up the initial vegetables. (PS: Splurge on the baby bella mushrooms from Costco. They have so much flavor.)

Here are the rest of the items I am planning to add to the skillet meal. I didn't use all the broccoli but my main goal was to fill up this meal with mostly vegetables.  Notice the heavy cream - I didn't promise it was a super healthy meal! Anyhow I used just enough to pull it all together. (cough, must leave some for whipped cream on pie later.)  Plus cheese and sun dried tomatoes. YUM.  (Side note: Speaking of Costco, I only buy my sun dried tomatoes there. So much cheaper. But I do transfer a small amount into the smaller jar so it can stay on my fridge door instead of hauling out the giant jar from the back of the fridge every use. Same for minced garlic. I know, how bad is it to not use fresh garlic? I'm lazy.  Yeah, I canned applesauce but I don't buy fresh garlic. Go figure.)

 ANYHOW. So I added the cream to the cooked vegatables and let it simmer for a while. At the same time, I put the broccoli into my 2 cup pyrex and half-cooked them. Then I added the noodles to my sauce, mixed in the broccoli, put the lid on, and let it all finish warming up/cooking for 15 minutes until Zach came home.

This kind of meal freezes GREAT and it has tons of veggies in it. (Although, there appear to be a lot of noodles in this picture. Oh well, I did my best.)  Anyhow, I freeze these in individual meal sizes (yay portion control!) and Zach has them when I'm travelling, or I eat them when I'm too lazy to make lunch.
This is pretty much how we roll for skillet meals around here - we don't measure anything and try to keep it fitting all in the skillet.  Do you have any go-to meals -- and will you share them with me so I can try something new?

Milestones: My first tri-tip

Hi again. Sorry all of my re-blogging posts are about food. But think about my life for a minute. I work. I see my husband. I get on planes. I cook for husband. I go to church. I see friends. I do not take pictures. So really, food adventures are all I've got right now. And after a month of eating out in the UK, I was kind of excited about cooking again. 

So here is my first tri-tip roast. We don't have a BBQ, so I planned to roast it. I scoured the internet for recipes and advice, and finally made up my own solution after reading how much work it could possibly be. This is a malt vinegar and soy sauce (mostly) marinade I made on the stove and marinated for a day or so.

 When I finally baked it, first I baked it for 10 or 15 minutes fat side up. Then I flipped it. Then I agonized for the remaining 40 minutes about overcooking it. Finally, when the internal temperature was 128 (per one blog) I let it rest for 5 or 10 minutes, then wrapped it in foil for another 10 or so while we waited for our dinner company to arrive.

Then I had to check with said dinner company the proper way to slice this. The slices are a little fat, but you can see we managed to achieve medium rare!! WOO HOO!!! 

Yum: Parchment Paper Salmon

Okay, so seriously. How many blogger friends are NOT using the new editing feature? I upload most of my phone photos (and camera, when the pics are random and being "saved" for a blog) to Picasa. Now it is so, so easy to just bring those in (in order!) to the blog. Love it.

So we had our good friends over for dinner, and I wanted to make salmon. Also, not pesto salmon, which is my only salmon dish I can make. So I resorted to looking at my 70's era "Salmon Recipes" garage sale cookbook and found parchment paper salmon.

Turns out this recipe is not "so easy" seeing as how you have to blanch the veggies (read: chop, boil, dry) in advance and such. But, we had a great time each making our own parchment package with our desired veggies, lemon slices, etc.

No really, zoom into that previous picture and look at all that tastiness in there. Here is what sold me on the parchment salmon: "The best part is, if you overcook the salmon, it does not dry out, because the steam cannot escape."  SOLD!

The after:

 Before stuffing our face with all that salmon:

Yum!

Homemade Bagels: How to really appreciate Noah's (and even Safeway)

Whoa...just figured out a waaaay better way to put pictures in! Nice. Okay, so bagels are pretty much my favorite breakfast.  So I thought - homemade bagels - must be even better, right? And I am ashamed to admit, on a night at home, I would rather try making bagels so I can have one the next day than just driving the .5 miles to Safeway and buying some.

 Also, I've been experimenting more with bread and such lately and my bread machine book had bagels. So I was interested in trying.
Turns out bagels are a ton of work. Rising. Water treatment. Burning fingers handling boiling hot bagels. Dipping. Geez.

 Finished product. Flat. Not too dry. Only ate them for 2 days. Trashed the rest. Couldn't love them like official bagels.

Tried again one more time, because I don't give up easily. Results were not improved. Verdict: buy bagels at the store. :(

What to eat?

I thought I would post some of our go-to recipes and February meal plan on here, in case anyone needs ideas. I planned for a whopping 8 meals in February, yep that's right - 8. I aim for 2 a week, which leaves room for leftovers, a couple dates, and other various cravings.

This week we had Pesto Salmon. This has to be closely coordinated with a Costco trip, but now we have an extra fillet in the freezer. With mashed potatoes. We made 3x the mashed potatoes (that was Tuesday) so that last night we could put them on top of our Shepherds Pie. Worked out perfectly. I actually cooked the rest of the filling (meat, tons of mushrooms, plus olives, roasted peppers, garlic, corn, other veggies, and about a 1/2c of chicken stock) earlier that day and then we just warmed up the meal when we were ready.

We also have the fixings for Steak Quesadillas coming up soon, and we already had Eggs and Noodles [West Coast Style], lasagna (although frozen at a party, not the recipe I wanted to use)...

I didn't quite get to my 8 planned meals this month (so far). Also remaining is: burgers and sweet potato fries, asian chicken salad, and slow cooker pot roast.

But not tonight, because we are going out to dinner for a late Valentine's day date!!!!!!!!!!!!

Irish Wheaten Bread - Sweet snack or curse word?

I have Irish Wheaten Bread in my oven. This is my first official attempt at bread. Considering this isn't even a yeast-based recipe, I'm not sure it even counts. But I had leftover buttermilk after making these, so I used it on the bread.

My motivation behind the non-yeast bread is...I'm a little afraid of the process. Warm water over the stove while mixing in yeast...wait XYZ hours for dough to double...etc etc garble garble...net result: Christy is confused. So, I gave this a try, even having to learn how to "cut butter into the mixture" and buying a pastry cutter. (Which may be my only take-away of this whole experience!) I did buy some instant yeast to try in my next big baking endeavor.

Did everyone have a nice Easter? He is risen...He is risen indeed!

When life gives you lemons...make lemondade...literally

Last week I went running and passed a home where some gardeners were trimming a lemon tree. I thought to myself...hm, why not ask for a couple lemons? I could use them in the kitchen, right? They obliged (en espanol) and I was glad I had worn Zach's XL Army long sleeve shirt over my running outfit to keep warm. I tied the sleeves up and started harvesting. Somewhere in that process I got the idea of lemon chicken, lemonade...and wasn't sure how many lemons I needed. (After all, it was me or the dumpster!) I filled the shirt up and walked the mile home.

Here are some of my lemons, with my previously store-bought ones on the counter:

And here I am with my OTHER bowl of lemons, and pomegranate lemondade that Zach made. (I ended up with 35 lemons!)

Here is Zach posing with his lemondae...ignore the Apple Cider container! Ha! I'm using our one and only pitcher to hold excess kitchen items.

What do you have lemonade with? A new recipe! This is from the 2009 Holiday Costco cookbook. Basic elements include: pan cooked sausage, steamed broccoli, 1/2 cup of water all simmered and mashed together over pasta with some cheese on top. Easy and tasty!!!

"Its like the Food Network in here" - Howard

My brother Nathan is bailing on the USA for the next 6 months!!! I'll really miss him! He is getting really good at making all kinds of good foods so before he left I wanted to show him how to make one of my favorites - Chicken Parmesan.



I love the kind of meal ordeal where everyone helps prepare the food. In this case, we modified our own red sauce, using onions, peppers, spices, garlic, a little jar-bought sauce and some plain tomato sauce simmered on the stove for a couple hours. YUM.



Then we breaded the chicken (tragedy of tragedies: ran out of shredded parmesan, so didn't have as much as I wanted in there), pan fried the outside, and baked the chicken.



We also made our on pasta, which was a first for Nathan but a repeat feat for me. I still can't get the noodles thin enough. Next time I'll try with less dough each time. (Note: the noodles reheated in boiling water the next day were am.az.ing)

Overall, the meal was a big YUM!!!! Jess even brought over some delicousl bread to soak up some of the sauce. Yum yum yum. Oh and the boys made Ghiradelli brownies for dessert. Can't go wrong with those!!!

What's for dinner?

"What's for dinner?" my grandma asked me via voice mail this week. Being a bad return caller, I haven't called back yet (tomorrow!) but I'll post here instead.
Last night was a fun filled evening with pesto salmon! I made my own pesto, baked the salmon with the pesto on top (thanks Jess!) with roasted potatoes and super salty green beans (thanks Jason!) and the best ever brownies (thanks Zach!)

I was a little nervous about the salmon and potatoes ALWAYS take at least twice as long as I think (and I never learn!) but it was DE-LISH.

Happy weekend everybody! What are you doing tomorrow? I'm going to SF!

Much Messier Cooking Adventures

Not everything I make is as easy as grilled cheese. I got a rolling pin for Christmas!!! Finally - after several instances of using glasses and nalgene bottles for rolling out pastas and doughs. I also got some other pasta making stuff so I can give it a try. It definitely takes longer to make, but I love the taste. For the price of 2 cups of flour and 2 eggs, Zach and I can eat our fill of pasta. When noodles are actually on sale they are pretty cheap, so, aside from getting the joy of DIY (do it yourself), I'm not sure if this is much "cheaper," I do like making this stuff.

Check out this dangerous bad boy: It is an adjustable dough cutter. Pretty cool!
My first day of pasta making (using my pasta drying rack!)

I tried bowties an twisties this day too, and was thrilled when they kept their shape after being cooked!

Lastly, yesterday I tried homemade ravioli. I don't really follow recipes for this kind of thing, but I finely chopped a cooked chicken strip, a slice of cheese, and some spinach with a little butter and garlic powder for the filling. Then I rolled out the dough as THIN as I could get it (despite using all my strength, it still pops right back up! These were like the thickest ravioli's ever). I made squares using my handi-dandy dough slicer and then used a fork to mash the edges together. I figured with this type of thing it is better to cook the ravioli's right away and eat up! (Which we did. Yum.)

I'd still like to figure out how to make the pasta a little thinner...mostly because I am extremely impatient and the thicker pasta takes way longer to cook.

Easiest Grilled Cheese, ever

It is actually more work for me to write this post than it is to make this sandwhich.

Don't get me wrong, I love a lovingly prepared grilled cheese sandwhich, buttered, parmesean encrusted bread slices with deliciously cheesy filling...maybe some tomatoes or lunchmeat added...grilled over the stove...mmm.

This is not that sandwhich. Here's how to make it:

1) Toast bread in toaster

2) Spray a little "spray butter" on one side of each piece.

3) Slap on pre-sliced cheese*

4) Microwave on a folded paper towel for 30 seconds

The resulting sandwhich is toasty and melty, without dirtying a single dish!!!

I made these while babysitting often and a boy (who is now in college) proclaimed joyfully, "These are even better than when mom makes them!"

This is how industrial engineers do it!

*Note: In my picture, I used 2 slices of different cheeses, and folded them (to break them) and staggered the distribution evenly across the bread. This is as fancy as I get with this type of grilled cheese.

So much cooking! Fresh pumpkin bread

Ok, so, I apologize for the string of food posts. Actually, I don't. Maybe you will try and love one of these recipes! I haven't been posting about work, because, it is too dramatic and career limiting to write about on the web. I haven't been writing about super personal stuff, because, I'd prefer to keep it that way! (Seriously - ask me and I'll tell, I just don't want the random googler to find out.) I could post about my neck, but I'll try to get a photo of me in head traction first for your amusement.

So to tide you over: Pumpkins. I learned something about pumpkins - Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins are not ideal for baking. Sugar Pie pumpkins are. I found some at P.W. Market, an upscale market, for 3x the price of regular Jack-O pumpkins, but I was determined to give this a try. Sugar Pie pumpkins are smaller and darker than their counterpart(s). You can substitute fresh pumpkin for canned (same amount) in any recipe.

Here, the inside of a sugar pie pumpkin. Much easier to deal with than the stringy mess.

All done, after about an hour in the oven at 375. (Until tender)

My "harvested" fresh pumpkin - puree (I didn't have to) and refrigerate (if using within 3 days) or freeze.

Don't forget to roast the seeds!!!

Next post...the pumpkin bread!!!!!